Remembering Harsh Truths
by cheeseymoose
Summary: Something happened to Purple months ago and he can't remember what happened and why. All he has is a haunting presence and horrifying dreams.
1. The Starting

Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim or the other characters. I don't have a penny to the characters' names. All wok is copyright to Jhonen Vasquez and Viacom! Wheeee.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Two dark purple eyes looked into a window and saw the vast space in front of him. It had been almost three month since. Pain enveloped his mind as he tried to remember what had happened after those three months. All he could remember was a bright flash then never ending darkness until he woke up in the medical ward with his fellow ruler. And three months after he still can't recover from something that was always haunting him, always springing up in the most unexpected moments. He knew that something was wrong because he could just feel it, that presence lingering everywhere.  
Turning away his hover belt made a distinctive whoosh sound that seemed strange yet familiar to him. He was all of a sudden face-to-face with his co-ruler; Red.  
"Are you ever going to stop looking out that window?" His ruby-eyed companion said, although he already knew the answer to the question.  
"No.not until I remember" Purple answered, hovering away from him. Red in turn hovered after him then went into step with purple.  
"You know you're attitude's changed ever since you've gotten out of the hospital," Red stated, "In fact you've completely changed." He threw his arms up in exclamation.  
Purple replied bluntly. "I've hardly noticed at all Red" Whooosh. Purple made another turn yet again to try to avoid his co-ruler and this time went into his room automatic doors shutting and locking behind him. 'Why can't he leave me alone?' Purple thought as he looked around his lavender and purple shaded room trying to find comfort or at least entertain himself. Books, electronic pads, pens, paper scattered everywhere. Obviously the cleaning drones hadn't come in yet to clean and organized everything.  
Scanning through the books he found none of them interesting, then searching through the Electronic pads, he found his planner and checked through it, the signing of a new treaty as well as a law against "Blowin' Up Kentas" needed to be done. After reading the copy of the new law he decided to take it into thought and proceeded to read the treaty with the Zoraten. Halfway, he got bored and once again the lingering presence came back  
All of a sudden he was engulfed in a hot inferno and he saw the burning ruby eyes of another Irken, at first he thought he saw desperation in those eyes but as he stared longer into them he saw a black rage and forbidden determination. All of it felt real, yet he knew it was only a memory, a memory into what had happened three months ago.  
Purple cried out in fear and pain, then everything went black.  
  
Purple's eyes blinked once, then twice. The room came into view and he found himself scrawled all over the floor he got up and noticed something, the background hum of machinery and engines wasn't present. Immediately his antennae perked up in awareness, trying to pick up a faint hum or vibration. Nothing, without knowing Purple rushed out of his room and burst through the door to find himself in the middle of a meeting with the Zoraten ruler and Red that was currently in session. "Ah, I see that your partner has finally gotten up from his sleep, yes?" The Zoraten ruler chuckled. "Purple I see you're up, I want to introduce you to-" Red was cut off as the Zoraten began to speak. "There is no need to tell him my name I will tell him myself, I am Kenga, Zoraten ruler. It is nice to see you up! Now we can go over the treaty, no?"  
Purple nodded in agreement and promptly sat down and took his place next to Red. "I see that now you have landed on our planet you have the mean to.take control of my people?"  
Red and Purple both nodded in union. "Well just like you have laws and rules we have ours too." Soon Kenga's eyes stated to change a sickly green color.  
"I would require that should you use my people for work they are under your protection and any harm done to them will result in.war.since I know your kind are capable of lying I am here to see if you are trustworthy, and if you are going to pull any moves. I warn you we are a tough people to secure peace is also preparing for war."  
Kenga's eyes changed to red as he waited for the two rulers' reply. Purple knew that Red was bound to lie and try to get more than expected and decided to speak up before any disaster should occur.  
"I agree to your words and to you rules, both of us will send out word of the rules discussed here today?" Red started to stir a bit and spoke out.  
"But Purple what about that other ru-" Purple turned sharply to Red and snapped  
"I want none of that crap, just to get more you got that?" Purples eyes narrowed warning Red of what could happen to him. Red fell back sulking and nodded in an angry agreement.  
"Good, I hope to see you soon and hopefully you'll take my words seriously.It was nice meeting you both eh?" Kenga's rocklike body moved and the sound of a slight grinding was heard as he got to get up. Eyes turning back to their catlike yellow Kenga nods to both of them.  
"I'll see you next time," Kenga said.  
"Sure Kenga, until next time" Red said this harshly as Kenga left the room and Operating Irkens soon filled the room to resume their duty in piloting the Massive. As soon as the Zoraten left, Red turned angrily to Purple and hissed through clenched teeth,  
"Why did you let the chance get away? We could've gotten more power and less restricting rules so we could do anything to his people! I mean-" Red was cut off by a quick smack to the face by Purple.  
"Idiot!.Idiot! Think of what he said! What happens if Kenga's people are more powerful than expected? Remember what happened to the last race? We underestimated them and lost almost half the population! It took us a good amount of years in order to regain our former steadily growing population!" Purple threw his arms up in frustration in order for Red to get it through his head to be more cautious.  
"Humph!" was the reply Purple got as Red turned away, arms crossed. Just about when he was to lecture him more Red turned swiftly to him and punched Purple sending him flying back into a wall. Purple was able to catch a glint of the same black rage in his memory just as Red came over and kicked him.  
"Idiot?!?!?.Maybe it's you who's the idiot Purple! We- as in the Irken Empire- We could have gotten more power, expanded our territory, and could now be one step closer to domination of the galaxy.Think it over Purple see if you get my point."  
Red glared down at him and left the room hover belt humming the equivalent of someone storming away. Purple lay there unsure whether the Operating Irkens had heard the both of them and ignored it, or if they were just stunned silent. Purple closed his eyes not caring whether he was on the floor, thinking about what had happened, slipped slowly into sleep.  
  
Purple was in a blurred world. Vivid and bleak colors flashed by, every time he caught glimpse of something or someone it would be going backwards. It was as if he was going back in time but for how long? More colors but this time the vision wasn't blurred, everything was clear but he felt that he was hovering away from something, he felt fear once again, and soon he found himself surrounded by a ring of towering infernos of fire.  
Through that he could see the ruby-red eyes of his pursuer he recognized the rage, determination and the desperation in those eyes.  
"What do you want? What did I do to you?" Purple cried out trying to get an answer to this never-ending nightmare.  
"You know what I want and what you did.now I have no choice, you made me do this to you." Was what the figure in the fire said.  
To Purple the voice sounded familiar to him, the fire grew more intense as the figure slowly became clearer. He tried to remember to whom it belonged to but the figure lashed out and struck him, everything grew white and the red eyes faded. Blackness engulfed him again but he could hear distinctively the hum of some kind of machinery and the muttering of voices. He couldn't make out any words all of it was gibberish. He felt a pain as something sharp stabbed him briefly soon he lost all vision and he felt like he was floating.  
That moment of peace would soon be interrupted by a dull pain which grew more and more by the seconds until the pain on his head grew more intense as if someone were drilling into his head and he was alive he could hear himself screaming, begging for mercy, letting out how he felt as the drill went deeper and deeper, but he knew that in this realm screaming would not help.  
Helpless he was thrashing about but still the pain was there. He heard voices and soon made sense of the voice of one of the maids who was trying to wake him from the nightmare.  
"Tallest Purple.Tallest Purple, wake up! It is but a dream," He felt someone shaking him lightly and was abruptly pulled out of his sleep as he opened his eyes and sat up drenched in sweat and panting. Wiping his forehead he turned to look at the maid who had awoken him. Light pink eyes curly antennae her uniform the same shade as her eyes looked back at him questioningly. Sighing from relief Purple dismissed the maid and lay back down All of a sudden he realized he wasn't where he last was; the wall outside.  
'The maids must have put me in bed' he though staring at the ceiling above him. The dream felt real as if he had been in it.' Could I have been in it?' thoughts went through his mind in big streams from each extreme to each logical explanation he thought was good. One thing he could not explain, however, was the pain that was now growing in his head after feeling alone. A moment passed before he felt a light sense of anger and something else unknown to him.  
Even more moments passed as soon he felt warm waves come over him engulfing him in a warm and safe blanket. It was though something was luring him to sleep, but sleep would not come. There was something else that he had to deal with; Red and the Zoraten treaty. But which would he deal with first? He knew Red can hold grudges for a long time and if he was still mad at him how can they be able to agree and sign the peace treaty? If Purple had been born into another race he would be a scholar, astronomer or a strategist.  
But he was born into the Irken Empire as a ruler, so the knowledge he knew could be useful, or harmful. That was why he was keen about the treaty and of Red. Should Red be born into another race he would be a general or a great warrior with a somewhat ill temper. Red was a good friend but if you get him angry he would most likely go into a mad rage, which was what had happened to him. Red only knew of power and battle while he knew of logic and knowledge. If Purple was to gain back Red's trust he would have to plan out his words and actions carefully.  
Throwing back the covers, the belt switched on and made only a slight humming sound. Purple halted before the door, took a deep breath and hovered outside. Instantly the operators and passing Irkens, maids janitors and others said chouses of greetings to him. Taking a deep breath he hovered over to a janitor and asked;  
"Where is Tallest Red?" the janitor paused from mopping the floor and replied as if he were thinking.  
"The last time I saw him my Tallest he was practicing with his scythe in the battle room." The janitor re-wets his mop and began to mop another area.  
"Thank you"  
"A pleasure my Tallest" With that the janitor put his mop into the bucket and walked off to another room. Purple hovered out the control room and into the long corridor filled with wires and an occasional security drone or guard. Going left and into a hall then making another left, he entered the cattle corridor. The walls on both sides of him were lined with various weapons. Small, big, dull, sharp, the possibilities of weapons were endless. Hundreds, even thousands of years went into the weapons evolving, becoming obsolete, or even being improved upon so it can inflict torturous pain on another.  
Old and new mini models of ships were displayed each hue and purpose different. Along with all the miscelleous items in there were the battle suits and guard suits. There was one point in time where spikes, spurs, capes collars and sharp points and blades were most favored during war and battle for both fashion and torture. There was one that caught his eye because the blade still had the dark purple blood on it. His eyes widened as he realized whose blade it belonged to. 


	2. Strange call and painful descisions

Chapter 2  
  
Withdrawing back, Purple backed far away his back being poked by one of the weapons in display. He closed his eyes in order to wipe away the image before him. When he opened his eyes the scythe with blood was gone, Purple's breath became faster as he knew there could be an assassin on board that wanted to take his place. This time he broke into a hovered run down the hall. Soon he was at the door be he felt someone there turning around he caught glimpse of a sharp object before his back thudded against the wall, cornered, he looked at what looked like eyes then as the figure was about to make a blow an unseen wind distorted the figure and blew it away as if it were only sand. Then he felt his back wasn't to the door anymore and turned around to find the battle room door had opened. Breath still quick he searched the room for any sign of his co-ruler and found nothing but an open case and a scythe lying on the floor as if the user had quickly vanished in order to do something important. Cautiously stepping inside Purple took a look at the room. Various weapons and defense items were placed on a rack, the room looked like an arena with a few benches here and there. The walls were covered in wires and an uncomfortable shade of red. Half the room was simulation and half was real. "Have you thought of what you said and what I said in return?" Came the voice from one of the benches higher up. Looking up Purple saw Red lounging on a bench with a cherry freezie in his hand. "Yes and no." Purple replied back getting nervous again. "There's either a yes or a no, so which is it?" Red replied bored, as he took as sip from his freezie. There was a silence as Purple thought and thought of what he was going to answer. Time seemed to tick slowly as Purple thought, 'If I say yes he's going to ask me who was right, if I say no, I might as well be kicked and punched by him again and he'd be angrier than before.' Just about when he was going to answer a beep sounded off, it was an incoming transmission. "Answer" Purple replied hastily. Soon a screen popped up in front of them and a stout looking Irken with green eyes appeared on the screen. "Hello my tallers, It's good to see you" The green-eyed Irken greeted them. He had a light accent as if he came from another part of Irk. "Hello Dran, how are things?" Red replied with great caution. As he took another sip from his freezie "Things are going well, thank you." Dran clapped in a show of example. The stout Irken turned his attention to Purple. His smile turned to a half frown half smile. "I see that the Bi-" Dran was abruptly cut off by Red in haste. "Um, Purple have you met Dran yet?" Red looked at Purple with an expectant look. Purple studied the face and somehow the face clicked somewhere in his memory. "I think I have." Purple began but was distracted by the look of worry and fear on Red's face. The face of Dran smiled in return and he shifted his weight. "I see, is your recovery full?" Red's face became even more emphasized as those words. "Yes I-" Purple was cut off by Red, as though he wanted to avoid the question. "He's had a full recovery Dran, remembers everything I-" Dran's would be eyebrow was raised in question.  
"Remembers everything?' Red's eyes widened as he realized his mistake.  
"Well not everything Dran-" Dran put up a chubby hand to stop him.  
"That's goo-" Red shook his head as if to warn him. Purple got the feeling something wasn't right and noticed a symbol on Dran's glove engraved in red the picture of the Irken symbol but with a snakelike animal wrapped around it. Red seemed to take noticed and hurriedly said. "Well Dran nice talking to you, see you!" with that the screen switched off and rolled back into the ceiling. Purple turned to where Red was perched and saw Red was shaking as if nervous. "Are you okay Red?" Red's head snapped to him as if he heard a phantom sound. Smiling weakly Red got up and descended the stairs. "I-I'm fine Purple, now b-back to matters," Red hovered over to where he was standing. "Did you think of what I said?" Purple stared blankly for a while before he registered what Red had said. "Yes, yes I did" Purple nodded in order to add effect. "Okay, that's good well why don't we go back to the main room and bug the other Irkens eh?" Red's voice seemed a bit to jolly. Also he hadn't reacted as Purple expected.' Could it be from the conversation with Dran?' Red then put an arm around Purple and led him out of the room and into the hall and corridor leading back to the main room.  
  
Red paced back and forth worried about his reputation if Purple found out what happened three months ago. He was waiting for the medic's analysis of what was happening to Purple's memory and brain. Minutes passed and he became even more restless and even more troubled. Soon a pale skinned nurse entered with a file and cleared he throat to get the restless ruler's attention.  
"Well, it seems he coming down with an consumption of brain, that mean if this isn't fixed he could suffer drastically and become insane." The nurse pulled out an x-ray pictured and showed it to him. "Mr. Gangster, whether this will be good new or bad, he's beginning to remember what happened to him some months ago and now it's only a matter of time."  
"Foy, could you please not remind me of the brainwashing I went through? It was painful enough I had to see one of my friends suffer from that scan." Red shook his head and sat down in a nearby chair. And put his head into his hands.  
"I'm sorry, the point is do you want to replenish the scan so he won't remember anything?" Foy waited for an answer light purple eyes blinked as she waited. Red didn't stir from his position for a moment before looking up at the nurse. His eyes stared for another moment then he sat up.  
"Yeah" Foy recorded something down in her file and closed it. Red was staring at the wall before him thinking of the pain Purple might have to go through in order to keep him safe.  
"I'll see to it my Tallest, goodbye"  
"Goodbye Foy." The nurse left Red alone in the room as he slowly drifted back to past memories that he would rather forget. 


End file.
